Category: Home Decor

Kate over at Centsational Girl today posted an awesome tutorial for covering craft store wooden boxes with fabric for some pretty and functional storage. Her boxes look so beautiful that I decided I was going to try my hand at it too! Definitely go check out her tutorial and beautiful pictures of the finished product!

Unfortunately I didn’t have any wooden boxes on hand, nor did I have the right kind of staples for the staple gun, so instead I decided to cover an old shoebox. That’s the kind of thrifty DIY project that really gets my blood pumping. I never throw away old shoeboxes, thinking that I’m going to repurpose them for storage, but they’re so ugly that I never end up using them.

I started out with an old shoebox and some $1/yard fabric that I had picked up a couple of years ago. I intended to make pillow covers with it but the fabric was so thin I didn’t think it would hold up too well. It was perfect for this project, though, cause the lightweight fabric didn’t add too much bulk.

Instead of stapling, I just hot-glued the fabric to the box. I basically followed Centsational Girl’s directions, just substituting hot glue instead of staples. (Hey, gotta use what you have…)

After hot-gluing both long sides I trimmed the fabric on the short sides (as per her directions), and folded it up over the side.

More hot glue. Lots and lots of hot glue. I may have burned a finger or two. I also added a bead of hot glue just on the seam on the corners to help it lie flat.

Just for fun, I lined the box with orange craft felt to hide the jaggedy edges. I hot glued that down too.

I basically did the exact same thing for the lid, except that I couldn’t line it with felt because it would have fit too snugly. Who knew a shoebox could be so pretty?

My little fabric-covered shoebox is now living on the Expedit where it corrals loose photos, magnets, and cards that I don’t have room to display, but don’t want to throw away.

I love fast, functional projects like this! I was able to complete the project, shoot the photos, and post this blog post all during the baby’s morning nap! Woot!

There are many times when I’m trolling the aisles of Homegoods and I don’t see a single thing I like. I’m literally – I have a budget that I want to spend, and I can’t find anything I want to buy! #firstworldproblems

On this particular trip I was feeling a bit frustrated because I felt like shoppers were being so rude. Don’t people say “excuse me” anymore? I was pushing my 1-year old around the baby aisle and all these older women (without children)kept pushing past us without even a glance or a word. I had to literally back out of aisles several times so people wouldn’t run right into us, and not even a soft little “sorry” or “excuse me” was to be heard. It could have been the same lady several times, I don’t know. But I was a little ticked off at the world.

Not that this ceramic dog made this all better. But it is rare for me to find something so cute at Homegoods. It almost looks Jonathan Adler-esque. I like the playful graphic pattern on the tail and front leg. And it was budget-friendly at $16.99 too.

Right now he’s guarding the fireplace mantel until I decide where I want him permanently.